Sölvesborg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Municipality and seat in south-west Blekinge  |
City arms Image:Solvesborg.png |
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| 56° 02´ N 14° 37´ E | ||
| Charter | City (1445) | |
| Municipality | Sölvesborg Municipality | |
| County | Blekinge County | |
| Province | Blekinge | |
| Population | 7,858 (2000) | |
Sölvesborg is a city in Blekinge in southern Sweden, and the seat of Sölvesborg Municipality. It was chartered as a city in 1445.
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[edit] History of the city
Sölvesborg was founded in the 12th century, between the mountain Ryssberget and a bay to the east, but remains of settlers have been found in the area dating back to the stone age. The area was during the ice age sub-glacial. The hill in the east, called Ryssberget, was a direct creation of the glacials movements. On the western side of the hill, the different times of ice withdrawal is clearly noticeable.
The city itself has grown up around the church and later on the castle (Kindström 1945).
The city was granted city priviliges in 1445 by the Scandinvavian king Christopher of Bavaria.
The history of Sölvesborg is marked by its location on the main road connecting the then Danish districts of Skåne and Blekinge, therefore a fortress was built as Sölvesborg was the main city in the province of Sölvesborg (called Sölvesborgs län). The origin of its name is not quite clear, but is believed to come from the founde of the castle, Sölfwitz or Sölvitz. The name thus means the castle (Borg) of Sölfwitz. During the Middle Ages and well into the 16th century, Sölvesborg marked a strategic city in the west, together with the easternmost city - Kristianopel.
With the Danish king Christian IV, change came to be. The old town closest to Sölvesborg - Vä, was burnt down during the wars and Christian wanted to replace it with a new one - Christianstad (the city of Christian). In order to accomplish this, the priviliges to trade from Vä and Sölvesborg were withdrawn and given to Sölvesborg. The city thus became less important and subsequently fell behind. These priviliges were not returned until in 1841, by the Swedish king Carl XIV.
[edit] History of the municipality
The municipality of Sölvesborg originally only comprised the city and its surrounding areas. However, with the increased duties of the municipalities that came to be in Sweden during the 1960s, the municipality was merged together with the old municipalities of Gammalstorp and Mjällby.
Presently, the municipality contains about 17,000 inhabitants, of which 10,000 live in the central city.
[edit] Industries
In the 18th century, a porceline factory was established. The factory remained for only a few decades and disappeard at the end of the century. In 1901, a glass factory was established. In the same era, a shipping dock was opened and remained in the city until 1982.
Today, little of the old, traditional industries remain. Instead, the city relies on work commuters and small scale industries. Outside the city, the fishing industry, especially in the harbour towns of Djupekås, Hällevik and Nogersund are important employers.
[edit] Transport and connections
Sölvesborg got its first railroad connections in the late 19th century, firstly to Karlshamn and Kristianstad and later on extended to Karlskrona in the west. In 1910 the railroad was extended to Listerlandet, the countryside surrounding Sölvesborg. Private investments saw to it that a new railroad was built between Sölvesborg and Älmhult (city of IKEA) and on this route the first and longest natural tunnel came to place.
Sölvesborg still retains its picturesque street structure, unlike many other Swedish cities. Even after a near total fire in 1801, when the entire city except the church burnt down, the city decided to retain it instead of adapting a grid pattern.
[edit] Politics
The Sölvesborg Party was formed ahead of the 2002 election by a group of former Green Party members. Party councilors are Dan Boberg and Bo Sandquist.
In the 2002 elections the party got 4.7% of the votes (472 votes) and two seats in the municipal council.
In the 2006 elections the party got 2.7% of the votes (277 votes) and one seat in the municipal council.
The city otherwise reflect the same political majorities as in its neighbouring cities of Bromölla, Olofström and Karlshamn.
[edit] Sights
Apart from the aforementioned Ryssberget, the countryside villages outside of Sölvesborg are very scenic. In July, the village of Nogersund hosts the day of eel fishing (Ålafiskets dag).
In central Sölvesborg, the twin hills of Kanehall and Vitehall, which up until the 18th century were magnificent lookout points, are still worth a visit as they are located in the beech tree forest, one of Europe's largest coherent beech tree forest.
Other notable visist include the Nicolai Church, whose oldest part stem from the 12th century and the runestones in and outside the church.
In 1985, SR International - Radio Sweden established a powerful medium-wave radio transmission facility at Sölvesborg. Broadcasting international programming to a large area of Europe, its twin antenna towers, located some 10 km from the town of Sölvesborg itself, are notable local landmarks.
[edit] External links
- Sölvesborg Municipality Official site
Sölvesborg is one of 134 towns with the historical City status in Sweden. |
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[edit] References
- Liedgren, Rut. (1971). I Sölvesborg på 1800-talet, Stockholm: Norstedts. ISBN
- Kindström, Lars-Göran. (1945). Sölvesborg Staden bygden borgen, Stockholm: Norstedts. ISBN
